Les Nouveaux Héros

It didn't really hit me why I eagerly anticipate animated films each and every year, whether they be from high stakes studios like Pixar and Disney or low-key efforts from Blue Sky Animation or Rainmaker Entertainment. To me, every animated film is an opportunity to showcase different writing and directing talents, as animated studios rarely keep the same director for every single project. Sure you have directors like John Lasseter or Pete Docter that frequently direct films for certain studios, but often, you get a solid variety of films made by people you've never heard of and that provides for a film experience akin to watching a filmmaker's directorial debut.

I only noticed this when I reflected on the bulk of Disney's films at the turn of the decade, from the enjoyable "Tangled," to the joyous "Winnie the Pooh," the incredibly fun and, my personal favorite in years, "Wreck-It Ralph," and the beloved and cherished "Frozen," the studio has consistently churned out a wide variety of films from a barrage of talented people. Disney's latest, "Big Hero 6," as expected, is no exception; this is a briskly-paced and different film for the animation studio, as it adopts a structure more akin to the one we've seen Marvel take on in recent years, and creates a film from the ground up that keeps its morals in check and its checklist of adventures in mind every step of the way.

The film follows Hiro Hamada (voiced by Ryan Potter), a fourteen-year-old technology prodigy from San Fransokyo, a city built and thriving on technological innovation. Hiro, despite having the intelligence and time to spend on debatably more significant projects, enjoys the concept and strategy of "bot fighting," or the act of two small robots dueling until ones destruction. Hiro is kept in line and motivated by the work of his older brother Tadashi Hamada (Daniel Henney), a skilled engineer, who has created a tubby white robot named "Baymax" (Scott Adsit), who is designed to monetize the healthcare system in America by providing non-threatening and responsive care upon hearing the expression "ow" from a person.

In the midst of all this, Hiro gets in contact with Professor Robert Callaghan (James Cromwell), a renowned technology guru who becomes attracted to the fourteen-year-old upon viewing a tutorial of his invention of "mircobots." Microbots" are tiny, metallic links that swarm and fit together to create whatever the human mind can imagine, proposing immense innovations and efficiency in architecture and transportation. However, after tragedy strikes, Hiro's motivation flatlines, and it's only him, Baymax, and a group of Tadashi's loyal workers that can stop a potential threat to technological and scientific evil.

When Hiro and his band of inventors band together to form a group of superheroes, "Big Hero 6″ easily could've opted for a sound and lights show, disregarding all the potential morals and ideas it laid so neatly on the table. However, despite a narrative structure that reminds us of the many Marvel superhero films we've seen this year, "Big Hero 6″ keeps key morals in place, some of which are understanding the differences between external and internal pain, as brought on by the presence of Baymax and how unprecedented scientific innovations can be used simultaneously for good and bad. We see all of these ideas pan out and develop over the course of the film's runtime and never does the film become too rushed or too simplified to the point where lofty morals are sacrificed for rock-em sock-em action; the balance is delicate and well worth commending.

On top of great, sound morals, "Big Hero 6″ instantly wins thanks to a cuddly and lovable hero, Baymax, who finds ways to charm with his straight-forward nature and his strive to make everyone around him comfortable. Baymax steals almost every scene he is in, and meshes quite well with the other characters, working germane to their characteristics and never undermining the true force of Hiro as a character. The film, in addition, is predictably gorgeous, with eye-popping colors and wonderfully animated surroundings, effectively delivering the aesthetics as well as the morals in a neatly-wrapped package. "Big Hero 6″ may not rank as highly as "Wreck-It Ralph," but seeing as it operates on a minefield of pitfalls and destructive forces, the fact it succeeds this well is a small miracle in itself.

My family got tickets to an early showing. The movie was excellent. The atmosphere was refreshingly different, the characters fleshed out, the plot touching, and the humor was rich and consistent . I would recommend this one to anyone, and especially to couples and families with children.Big Hero 6 really blew me away, I expected it to be good since Disney is having another animation renaissance but once the credits began to roll all I could do was wish it was longer. This movie has something for everyone, comedy, action, some despair. In fact, surprisingly the only thing missing was romance, which is fine with me. If you love superheroes, robots, and animated films, I think you've found your holy grail.

Honestly, I didn't have very high expectations for 'Big Hero 6', considering that I'm usually not a fan of Marvel's works, but I was gladly proved wrong.

Story wise, 'Big Hero 6' is rather formulaic and not too outstanding, but it's still very entertaining due to the way it balances all aspects. You have everything: drama that's not over the top but still touching, thrilling action, great comedy, and some okay twists. And more importantly, they all mix together perfectly, so you'll never get bored or frustrated, and at the same time, you will feel connected with the characters as they deal with some mature conflicts rarely seen in recent Disney products. A huge part of this accomplishment is thanks to the character Baymax. The guy is amazingly likable, steals every scene he's in, and has great contributions to every part of the movie. When the movie needs drama, he provides the sensitivity and cuteness, when it needs action, he's the coolest, and when it needs comedy, he's the funniest. His voice acting by Scott Adsit is also great as he sounds both emotional and cute, despite the robotic voice effects.

The rest of the characters, however, are hit and miss. Hiro is cool, and I like the way he deals with grief: quite mature and not excessive, though his voice doesn't sound like a 14-year-old. The other two boys in the group are okay because they tend to break away from stereotypes. But the others, including the main villains, are just cliché and forgettable.

Visually, 'Big Hero 6' is very stunning, mainly due to the lively San Fransokyo and the impressive effects. Personally, I find some of the action scenes in this to be the most cinematic and thrilling I've ever seen in animation. All of the camera movements, slow-motions, and lighting and explosion effects easily rival the best live-action blockbusters out there. Moreover, the characters' visual designs are also more imaginative than other recent Disney products'. This is especially true for Baymax, who is surprisingly expressive despite the minimalistic looks.

'Big Hero 6' is no masterpiece, and it may not be up to the standards of Pixar's classics or Dreamworks' 'How to Train Your Dragon', but nonetheless, it's still a greatly entertaining and well-made movie. I also love that it still leaves a lot open for the sequels as I now really look forward to them.

I did read before I went to see this movie that Disney would be testing some adult subjects, like the loss of somebody. Without putting out some spoilers, I might say that the movie really touched my boys. I have two boys in the age 6-9, and both of them had both laughter and tears during the movie.

It is a great action, comedy, drama package. Both my sons fell in love with Baymax, and if he where standing outside the cinema when we left he would have been given a big hug for sure.

The storyline is good, and as a father I had quite a few laughs myself and managed to stay awake for the whole movie. Many times going to the movie with your kids can be a snooze-fest, but this one actually entertained me as well.

A little over a year after I took my granddaughter Catrin (then almost three) to her first ever movie "Frozen" (which she utterly adored), I took her (now just four) to see this very different film from the same stable (Walt Disney Animation Studios) and I'm delighted to record that she loved it. We saw it in IMAX in 3D and we were both blown away.

Although this time the central character is a young boy - Hiro Hamada of the city of San Fransokyo - rather than two princesses, my granddaughter had no trouble relating to it because Hiro is so cute, his inflatable robot Baymax is androgynous, and two of his four friends - making up the six heroes - are very capable girls.

I reckon that "Frozen" plus "Big Hero 6" - with a few films in between - will give her a lifelong love of the movies.